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May 24, 2016rpavlacic rated this title 4 out of 5 stars
Combining fact with fiction, this book takes a historical truth - that a widowed Thomas Jefferson had an intimate relationship with one of his most trusted slaves, Sally Hemings, that produced children - then weaves a tale of vignettes that contain some facts and numbers but mostly conjecture about the relationship, from the perspective of Jefferson and Hemings themselves, historical figures like Alexander Hamilton, John Adams, and James and Dolley Madison, and time warps where Jefferson finds himself in an early 20th century movie house showing a film about his life that he believes is a bunch of lies, modern day New York City where he spots Hemings in the same subway car he's riding on, a suspect in jail on a charge he's never told what it is, and even a reality where he's an ape and can do nothing about it. It took me a few days to read it to take it all in but I found it entertaining, as well as educational.